The present invention relates generally to head attachments for harvesting machines and, more particularly, to a flail rotor head attachment which is especially adapted for use in conjunction with a forage harvester.
The automation of crop harvesting is an integral aspect of modern agriculture. Devices to aid and improve the harvesting process are widely sought after to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Automation has increased the speed at which many crops are harvested and it has reduced the necessity of manual labor. However, the automation of harvesting still remains relatively expensive in instances where the use of multiple machines is required due to the costs of paying machine operators, fuel, maintenance and the purchase of the machines themselves.
Once a crop has been harvested from a field, varying amounts of crop residue (e.g. stalks, leaves, roots, chaff, tare, stubble, straw, cobs, pods, hulls, fibers, silage, fodder or other plant matter) remain in the harvested fields. Crop residue has a number of different uses, for example, it is sometimes further processed in a variety of ways for use as bio-fuel, animal feed or other bi-products. Collecting crop residue from harvested fields oftentimes involves the use of several different types of machines. For example, once a corn crop has been harvested, standing corn stubble or already combined corn stalks remain in the field. This corn stubble or stalks is typically harvested for use as animal feed. Normally a series of machines or operations are required to collect the corn residue and convert it into animal feed. First, the corn stubble or stalks need to be cut, chopped and windrowed in a first operation. Windrowing is a row of cut crop residue such as a small grain crop or hay which is organized and collected in a row on the ground and allowed to dry before being baled, combined or rolled as necessary. Typically, a flail windrower machine is used to accomplish this task. A flail windrower will cut, shred and windrow the remaining corn stalks in a single pass and will build neat, uniform windrows on the ground ready for baling or stacking. Depending upon the type of crop residue, the volume of such residue from time to time may necessitate the use of a rake for combining two or more windrows together, creating piles of crop residue large enough to be processed such as by a forage harvester.
Once the corn residue is windrowed, the windrowed stalks are typically baled in a second operation through the use of a baler machine. The baler will parcel the crop residue into bales for pickup at a later time. Alternatively, if a baler is not used, a forage harvester may be used to pick up the windrowed crop residue and load the same into a vehicle for transport. The bailed or otherwise gathered corn residue is then transported to a feed yard in a transportation operation where the bales or collected crop residue are then further ground and mixed with other feed or supplements in a further operation for use as animal feed. These multiple operations are time consuming; they can take several days or weeks to accomplish; and the use of multiple machines is expensive when you consider the cost of each machine, the fuel consumption required, and the manpower necessary to accomplish these multiple tasks.
In present day harvesting operations, there is therefore a need for improving the efficiency of gathering and collecting crop residue and for reducing the number of machines and/or operations necessary to accomplish the task. Streamlining the overall operation and reducing the overall costs involved is desirous.